Codename: Panzers - Phase One

S.W.I.N.E. No wait! Before you put this mag back on the shelf in indignation at my apparent rudeness, let me explain. That wasn't an insult aimed at you, although to be honest, this isn't a bloody library so why don't you go and buy this mag (great demos, news, previews and reviews at a bargain price - honest). Then we can continue in comfort without some snotfaced Saturday assistant giving you evils for spending too much time browsing through the PC mag section and not buying anything. There you go, that's better isn't it?

S.W.I.N.E., as I was about to explain, was the first game developer Stormregion were responsible for, a zany pig-versus-rabbit (oh, how we laughed) RTS that wasn't half bad, if a little limited and basic. Unlike their second game, Panzers, which is apparently going to revolutionalise the 3D RTS genre. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but of course it is. Or is it?

To be fair, it is looking pretty damn impressive. So impressive in fact, that I travelled via a horse and cart to Hungary to grill project leader Tomas Szeremy about the game. Sadly he wasn't there when I arrived, but thankfully in my absence, news supremo Jamie Sefton emailed him some questions and got some rather positive replies. Tomas types: Panzers combines real-time strateqv with RPG elements. After choosing a side you'll control an officer - your hero - who is in charge of controlling your small but well-equipped detachment. To quote him further on this subject would take up too much room (Tomas is very vocal about this part of the game), so let me save a bit of space and summarise for a while.

A Load Of Old Tank

There'll be three sides to play as. Lederhosen-loving fascist Germans, Pinko Ruskies and capitalist pig Allies. Each gifted with their own campaign, mission objectives and hardware that will vary considerably between sides, although one piece of hardware in particular will dominate each side. Tanks. Loads and loads and loads of massive, troopcrushing, house-levelling tanks to annihilate the enemy with as you charge across war-torn Europe in a bid for supremacy. But as Tomas explains, Panzers will offer much more than basic, brutal tank-warfare. Panzers combines real-time strategy with RPG elements. Strategic options will include occupying enemy tanks and entering strong points and buildings." Tomas is also keen to point out, that while tank warfare provides the meat of the action, there'll be a variety of other weaponry and soldier types on offer too. There are ten types of squads with different weapons and consisting of different numbers of soldiers -for example, the flamethrower squad, bazooka squad, AT-rifle squad and mortar squad. You can also upgrade them." Let me stop you there again Tomas, as I'm running out of room. Overall, you'll have over 100 vehicle types in your command, including dive-bombers, motorised anti-aircraft guns, artillery and jeeps to name but a few.

The massive unit diversity and apparent strategic depth certainly throws out hints that Panzers is steamrolling its way towards great things, and early playtests suggest it could be a better-looking and more accessible version of Sudden Strike. With its superb 3D engine, full strategic landscape, free-floating camera, and multitude of visual effects (dynamic lighting, destructible buildings, weather effects and so on) it's looking as appealing as it's sounding, and is shaping up to be a massive improvement on S.W.I.N.E. We'll be watching this one very closely.

What Do you do with your flamethrower squad when an enemy Panzer rumbles into view? Crawl into cover and hope it doesn't see you? Try to explode its fuel tank with a well-aimed burst of napalm? Or heat it up with your burners until the roasting crew have to bail out, and then nick it for yourself? While it may be about as realistic as West Brom's chances of winning the Premier League this season, the third answer is the one you're looking for. At least, it is when you're playing Codename: Panzers. Hot on the heels of Soldiers: Heroes Of WW2 comes the latest war-with-the-Nazis RTS off the production line.

But where Soldiers at least paid some attention to the fact a man can't take a tank shell in the face and survive, Panzers is happy to heave all such concerns overboard. This leaves the developer free to create its own laws of physics, enabling trucks to take a pummelling from anti-tank shells and survive, dive bombers to appear in a nano-second of having been summoned, and repair vehicles to patch up friendly armour mid-battle.

Unsurprisingly then, if you're looking for an authentic WWII experience, look away now. But if you want a playable, action-packed RTS adorned with all the paraphernalia of war, read on.

Meat Market

Panzers' 30 missions spread over three campaigns follow the Germans from Poland to Moscow, the Russians from Moscow to Berlin and the western Allies from D-Day to Market Garden. Typically, you're in command of a handful of tanks and armoured vehicles, together with a similar rationing of infantry squads, support vehicles and artillery guns. While offering bigger forces than Soldiers, Panzers is nowhere near the scale of Sudden Strike or Blitzkrieg.

A crude cut-scene frames each mission, laying out the lie of the land. The missions have more substance than the average RTS, with a good spread of objectives and plenty of unforeseen events triggered once you've got about your business. Once in control, there's no resource management to worry about, other than keeping your troops alive so they carry their experience over. Success results in the award of tasty prestige points used to upgrade your forces with the latest killing technology.

Coming Alive

The engine is fairly robust, letting you view the action from any direction, but falls short in not allowing a wide focus on the action. The vehicles and men are well animated though, with tanks rocking on their chassis as they fire, and troops flying in the air as howitzer shells hit.

Best of all, massive plumes of smoke and fire erupt from the ground as each heavy artillery shell arcs across from its hidden gun pit. But this would all be more impressive had Panzers not been ambushed by Soldiers. The latter's more gritty, earthy and satisfying reproduction of combat outshines the more angular, polygonic feel to the visuals here (see We Have Explosives!', above).

Unlike Soldiers, though, Panzers doesn't punish gung-ho aggression so heavily. Many missions can be completed by strolling into town with your shiny great tanks and blowing the bejeezus out of everything. Which, obviously, is fun. Having the licence to pursue such wanton destruction is Panzers' strong suit, making it less frustrating than some of its RTS comrades.

The Al chips in to increase the enjoyment by not just waiting for you to turn up. You almost believe it's thinking for itself when it retreats under pressure, or sets upon you with reinforcements where you least expected.

On the other hand, tactics are fairly thin on the ground -other than exploiting the strong points of your units and the weaknesses of an enemy. Kill his repair trucks, keep your armour moving to avoid the incoming artillery, keep your vehicles repaired while they slug it out with the enemy - that kind of thing. There's not much in the way of clever flanking manoeuvres or subtle feints. There are also issues with the unit control interface, and managing your units in formation is a pain. In fact, finding your units at all can be a mare, as when things get hot, the minimap becomes engulfed in pulsating markers, completely obscuring your dispersed forces.

So there it is: yet another WWII RTS. It may look like the others, but this is way more on the pick-up-and-play' end. In essence, Panzers is an RTS in the Command & Conquer mould - it's all about ease of play and accessibility. With its scant regard for what it's supposed to be simulating, it could easily have been a high-thrills fantasy or sci-fi RTS that had its graphics changed to give it a WWII feel. Yes, that's what it is: it's Second World Warcraft.

We Have Explosives!

Soldiers: Heroes Of World War 2 Blows Apart The Visuals In Codename: Panzers

Let's face it: you can argue about which game has the most impressive Al or which control interface is best for organising troop movements, but at the end of the day, what you really want to know is which game causes the most explosive destruction? Codename: Panzers is certainly impressive in the graphics department - telegraph poles and high-tension wires buckle and snap as armoured vehicles plough through them, and hedges, trees and walls are crushed under the tracks of the heavy Panzers. However, it's Codemasters' Soldiers: Heroes Of WWII that has the edge on spectacular visuals because of Best Ways' superlative engine that renders full 3D collapsible buildings and ragdoll physics. When it comes to over-the-top explosions, Soldiers is da bomb'.